I know this is a pretty long shot, but does anyone here have a Singer model 384 sewing machine? It says 'Mon Ami' on it, but there seem to be a few models called that.

There is one which belongs to a student society I'm involved with, but there is no instruction manual and no one seems to have used the sewing machine for years (I think whoever knew how to use it moved away).

It does move when connected to power, but I don't think I'm setting it up properly. I know how to thread my mum's machine, but get a bit lost with other types. I threaded it as best I could and tried some practice stitches, but a lot of them skipped and after a short while the spool of thread fell off (well, threw itself off) and the thread snapped. I wonder if I'm missing the spike the spool of thread is supposed to go on? Where I would expect it to be there is just a tiny nubbin, a bit like a thread guide expect it doesn't seem to be in the right place for that. So I tried putting the spool on the thingy for winding thread onto the bobbin. But that wasn't tall enough- the spool wobbles around.

Well, if by amazing chance anyone knows how to thread this machine, I'd be very grateful if you could show me. Otherwise, any hints on how I could search for it?I've found a site where you can buy instruction manuals but they require a longer model number than is written on the machine and I don't know if the society would buy one anyway.

I should probably join a dedicated sewing forum to ask, but thought I'd check if any of you clever people knew first.

(Sorry for my terrible grasp of the terminology.)

_________________An unprocessed chicken is walking around and clucking to itself. And yes, I think they're healthier that way too. - Tofulish

Er, I feel silly now. In the picture in the eBay post it is threaded, except they have taken the spool of thread off and just wound the end of the thread round where the spool would go. It turns out that little nubbin pulls up to become the 'spike'. It's blurry, but the rest of the threading does seem to be the way I had tried it, and when I practiced again it seems to be stitching a lot better.

I suppose now I just need to get new needles, clean the fluff out wherever possible, and learn the mysteries of tension adjustment. I could go see my mum and get her to teach me about tension on her machine- that must be pretty transferable, right?

_________________An unprocessed chicken is walking around and clucking to itself. And yes, I think they're healthier that way too. - Tofulish